Steaming apparatus for fabrics and wearing apparel



Dec. 27, 1960 A F, PARis 2,966,287

STEAMING APPARATUS FOR FABRICS AND WEARING APPAREL Filed April 25, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. l

sin Slm A? FIG. 4

vIIV/Illl INVENTOR AUGUST F. PARIS ATTORNEYS Dec. 27, 1960 A F, PARlS Y 2,966,287

STEAMING APPARATUS FOR FABRICS AND WEARXING APPAREL Filed April 25, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5

/NVENTOR AUGUST F. PARIS B, /WZ

A TTOHNEYS United States Patent O STEANING APPARATUS FOR FABRICS AND WEARlN G APPAREL August F. Paris, 7 th Ave. and Oak St., Brockway, Pa.

Filed Apr. 25, 1956, Ser. No. 586,495

4 Claims. (Cl. 22S- 51) My invention relates to apparatus for steaming and nishing fabrics, garments and parts of wearing apparel; and it relates more particularly to improved means for supplying dry steam to such finishing machines and devices.

The invention is particularly useful in that type of garment finishers in which the dress, coat or the like is placed around an inilatable porous fabric form into which steam or air is forced to distend the form and then pass outwardly through the garment to steam or dry the same, but it Amay be used in sleeve or trouser finishers and even in electric irons which discharge steam onto the fabric being ironed. In the use of such linishers, and particularly when the garments are made of certain materials, it is very important that no water that might cause spots be delivered to the garments. While various means have been proposed for separating water from the steam, l have invented an improved steamer capable of not only delivering to the garment finisher extremely dry steam but also a large volume in a short period of time.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a simple and eective steamer of either an upright or a horizontal type, having inner and outer elongated shells which are very closely spaced to provide an outer chamber of very small volumetric capacity surrounding an inner chamber formed by the inner shell, the steam being admitted first to the inner shell and then fed from a portion of the inner chamber by a valve controlled conduit to the very narrow outer chamber; thus the steam is brought into intimate contact with the heated wall of the inner shell so that any water particles in the steam will be evaporated before the steam is finally discharged from suitable openings in the outer shell, such openings being spaced longitudinally from the inlet of the steam into the outer shell.

Another object of the invention is to provide in an upright type of garment nisher, a steamer in which the steam is first fed into an inner chamber on one side of a downwardly extending water separating baffle, and then fed by a valve controlled conduit at the other side of the baille to an outer chamber which surrounds the inner one and from the top of which dry steam is discharged into the inflatable form of the finishing machine, the inner chamber being formed by a shell which is very closely spaced from the outer surface of the wall of the inner chamber so that the inner chamber has an extremely small volumetric capacity and any particles of Water in the steam discharged against the heated wall of the inner chamber will be vaporized and hence the steam discharged from the top of the outer chamber will be extremely dry and free from water particles.

Another object is to provide in a steamer of the above indicated character in which the inner part of the device not only forms the usual type of steam separator but is maintained hot by the surrounding shell and serves as a vaporizer or evaporator, and in which considerable 2,966,287 Patented Dec. 27, 1960 pressure is maintained in the `device so that the steam is discharged from the device with considerable force.

Another object is to provide a device of the above character which may be rapidly and inexpensively produced from standard steel, brass `or other metal tubes and parts by welding and other simple procedures so that costly molds and equipment are unnecessary.

With the above and other objects and advantages in View, the invention resides in the novel combinations and arrangements of parts and the novel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which show the present preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through an upright type of steamer embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail top plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1 with parts broken away and in section; Y

Fig. 3 is a detail view similar to a part of Fig. l and showing a slight modiiication thereof;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail perspective showing one of the spacers on a part of the inner steam separator and vaporizer shell;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic vertical section through the principal parts of a well known form of garment finisher showing one application of the upright type of steamer thereto;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic vertical sectional View through a sleeve or trouser leg finisher showing one application of the horizontal type of steamer thereto;

Fig. 7 is a detail transverse section taken on the line 7-7 in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a section similar to Fig. 7 but showing a slight modification.

While the invention may be embodied in various kinds and sizes of nishers for fabrics and garments, I have shown in Figs. l and 5 the preferred form of upright steamer for the so-called garment nishers, and in Fig. 6 a horizontal type steamer for a so-called sleeve or trouser leg nisher. Fig. 5 is merely a conventional representation of a well known form of garment finisher and I will first describe in detail the construction and operation of the steamer shown in Fig. 1.

The illustrated device comprises an upright hollow elongated inner body or shell 10 and a closely spaced surrounding outer body or shell 11. The body 10 has a continuous side wall 12, a closed top wall 13 and a closed bottom wall 14 to form an inner steam chamber 15. Depending from the top wall is a transversely or ldiametrically extending baille 16 and hence the body 10 is similar to a Well known form of steam separator in which steam is admitted to the chamber on one side of such a baiiie and removed from the other side so that the free water and condensate collects at the bottom of the chamber.

The enclosing shell 11 comprises a continuous side wall 17 and a top wall 18 which may be perforated as at 19 for the escape of steam. The shell when thus formed, is telescoped over the top of the body so that there will be a very narrow space 20 between both the side walls 12 and 17 and, also if desired, between the top walls 13 and 18, the bottom of that space being suitably closed as at 21. The space 20 forms an outer steam chamber of small volumetric capacity for the reason hereinafter explained.

Steam is admitted to the top of the chamber 15 on one side of the baiiie by a supply pipe 22 which may be tapped through the walls 17 and 12. Water that collects in that chamber may be removed by a drain pipe 23 tappedv in the bottom wall 14 and controlled by a suitable trap 24 which will permit considerable pressure to be built up in the chamber 15, as above stated. From the upper portion of the chamber 15 steam is passed to the space or chamber 20 by a generally U-shaped conduitr25. The latter is made-f pipe sections and fittings'and it'includes a suitable control valve 26. EX- tending from this valvek is a pipe section'27 which is tapped through the-walls 17 and 12 into the top part of the chamber 15V above the lower end of the bae and on the side opposite the steam inlet 22. Thus any water particlesv in the steam entering the inlet 22 will be prevented from passing .directly to the inlet end 27 of theV conduit. The other end of the conduit may be a pipe section, 28 tapped inthe Wall 17 at a point preferably about Vmidway of the length or height of the dei/ice.k It is. important that the steam 4discharge pipe 28 of the U-shape conduit be a substantial distance such as at least two inches, if the body 10 is ten inches long, belowthe closeststeam discharge perforations so the steam' may spread around the space 20 before it is discharged.V Thus the steam admitted to the narrow elongated chamber 20 must travel longitudinally thereinV before reaching the discharge 19. ,Y Y

To facilitate the distribution of steam in the chamber 20 there is formed in the outer face of the body 10 at a point opposite the inlet 28, a groove or channel 29 which extends transversely around, or partially around the body 1-0. The control orV cut-off valve 26 may be spring closed and have its sliding stem 30 actuated by a lever 31 or other suitable manually actuated means as hereinafter indicated.

The size of the device will vary according to the volurne of dry steam needed in the iinishing machine, and the shape of the longitudinally elongated bodies or shells 10 and 11 may be circular, oval, rectangular or other shape in cross section, and in elevation they may be tapered or cone-shaped, but when made cylindrical as shown, they may be formed from pieces of standard steel,vbrass or other metal tubes. For example, the body 10 may be a piece of tube or pipe about l0" long with an -outside diameter ofl 215/16" and its ends closed by two metal disks which form the end Walls 13V and 14. These disks have ydiameters corresponding to the inside diameter of the tube and their edges are beveled or tapered, as at 32, so that they may be effectively welded at 33 in the ends of the body 10. The baffle plate 16 is of course, welded across the bottom of the wall 13 before it is welded in position. The body of the shell 11 may likewise be a piece of metal tube of about the same length with an inside diameter that would give the space 20 a width of at least 2/000 of an inch but not more than 5%4 of an inch since the spacing of the bodies 10 and 11 is critical. I have found that a spacing of %4 of an inch is highly satisfactory, and that the eiiciency of the revaporization decreases as the space sizeincreases. The top wall 1S of the shell may be screwed into the upper end of the body 11 or it may be welded as at 34 in the same ymanner as the other end walls.

The preferred manner of discharging steam from the narrow space 20 is by forming rows of lA'" holes 19 about 1A apart each way. If it is desired to dischargeV some of the steam laterally from the top of the device,Y additional 1/16 holes 35 may be formed in the wall 17 adjacent the perforated top 1S.` These holes 35 in one or more annular rows are inclined upwardly and outwardly as seen in Fig. l. While the end walls 13 and 18 may be in contact and the perforations 19 formed only at the top of the annular or cylindrical space 20, the construction shown is preferred. When the device is made as above described the lower end of the shell wall 17 is Welded` at or adjacent to the lower end of the body wallv 11 to provide the closure 21 for the bottom of the space or chamber 20'.. In order to hold the body cen-v te'red in the shell during that welding operation, spacers 36 are soldered to the top and outer faces of the body I0. These spacers may be square pieces of proper gage sheet metal such as stainless steel, copper, brass or aluminum. There may be 3 or 4 equally spaced blocks or strips in an upper and a lower annular row between the walls 12 and 17, and there may be a similar row between the upper end of the body 1Q' and the perforated top wall 18, as seen in Fig. l. Due to the heated condition of the inner shell 12 and the extremely small width of the space 20, no condensate will accumulate in the bottom of the space o-r chamber but in order to remove any solids that accumulate there, a suitable blow out connection 38 may be tapped into the lower portion of the wall 17 and operated about once a month.

In the nishing of garments on machines of this character it frequently happens that the garment may have obstinate wrinkles and also certain stains which can only be removed by more moisture and heat than is supplied by the steam introduced into the porous form. In .suchV cases a steam gun is used. It is a valve controlled nozzle at the endv of a steam hose, the nozzle having a jet hole approximately 1/16 so that steam may be directed to a particular part of the garment.V To permit such a gun to be used, I may mount alvalv'edy hose connectionV 39 on one end of a pipe 40 the other end y41 of which is tapped through the walls 17 and 12 to take steam from the top of the chamber 15 on its side remote from the steam inlet 22. Or as shown in Fig. 3 a similar valved h-ose connection 39 may be mounted onk one branch of a T-connectionf42 included in the conduit 25, 25a which otherwise is the same as the conduit shown in Fig. 1. If the hose of a steam gun is attached to either of these hose connections 39 or 39a, relatively moist steam will be supplied to the nozzle of the gun `from the chamber 15 although the valve 26 in Fig. 3 must be open before steam will pass to the connection-39a. It will be obvious that both of the-valved hose connections may be used on the same steamer and that the valve 39a may be loperated simultaneously with the valve 26 by a foot treadle or other manually actuated means.

In the operation of the device the valve 26 is opened when it is desi-red to discharge steam into the form. Not only does the surrounding shell 17 tend to keep the body 10 hot, but the shell is so closely spaced from theV be built up in the inner chamber 15; and since the dis-- charge from the steam device Vis' in many ne jets or streams when the valve 26 is opened, there is less tendency'for any water particles to be discharged into the garment `form or onto the yfabric being finished or treated. It is therefore possible for the steamer to shoot drier steam a` higher distance into the form than is possible in any kind of steamer known to me. I have obtained the bestV results with the device constructed` asf disclosed andwith the outer chamber 2t) having a width of l/32 ofV an inch; By making the device as above described expensive patterns, molds and other equipment` are unnecessary.

Fig. 5 shows how a steamer of the above described construction may be used in a garment iinisher of the type disclosed in my Patent No. 2,417,838, March 25, 1947. The machine has a cylindrical base portion or casing 45 to rest on the` floor and from the center of which rises a standard 46 suitably supporting a porousV nylon bag or form 47. The open bottom of the latter surrounds the open top of the base or casing 45 and the outer body .or shell 11 of the steamer is suitably supported at the center of these parts. Immediately below the steamer is a rotary motor driven fan 48 which sucks air through a screened part 49 of the base and over a steam heating coil 50. A valve controlled steam supply pipe 51 is connected to the coil and to the pipe 22 of the improved steamer shown in Fig. 1. The U-shaped conduit of thesteamer is shown at 2.5b with a spring closed valve 26*1 having its stem moved by a lever 31a with a free end connected by a link 52 to a foot lever 53 pivoted to the base 45.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the steamer used in a horizontal position in a machine for finishing the sleeves of a shirt or other garment or the legs of pants and slacks. This horizontal type steamer differs from the upright type principally in the omission of the baffle 16, in the relative proportions of the parts and in the arrangement of the steam discharge perforations. The steamer is supported at one end from an upright pedestal or stand 55 and is of a length and diameter to telescope into a sleeve or trouser leg. The body of the device comprises a straight cylindrical shell or tube 12a which forms the inner steam chamber 15?- and an outer closely spaced cylindrical shell or tube 17a to form the restricted outer chamber or space 20a. The rear end of the inner shell 12'El is extended beyond the closed end 21a of the outer shell, and a valve controlled steam pipe 22a passes through the disk-like end Wall 14a of the inner shell. This steam pipe extends centrally of the shell 12a and discharges steam close to the closed disk-like end 13a of that shell. A drain pipe 2,3*1 with a suitable steam trap 24a is connected to the extended end `of the inner shell to remove the condensate therein but permit pressure to be built up in the inner chamber 15a, the same as in the corresponding chamber 15 in Fig. l. The end Wall 155a of the inner shell is preferably spaced from the outer disk-like end wall 18a of the outer shell and the latter may be formed with steam discharge perforations 19a, but most `of the steam discharging from the narrow space or chamber 20a passes through perforations 35a. formed in the outer shell 17a. The perforations extend from the free end of the shell to a point spaced longitudinally from its other end and from the steam inlet 28a here- A inafter mentioned, as shown in Fig. 6. A valve controlled blowout pipe 38a may be tapped into the rear portion of the outer shell to remove solids that may accumulate therein. The U-shaped conduit 25c which corresponds to the conduit 25 in Fig. l, has one end 27a tapped through the extended end of the inner shell and its other end 28atapped through the inner or rear portion of the outer shell at a point spaced longitudinally a substantial distance from the rearmost perforations 35B so that the steam entering the space 20E must travel a distance along the latter before it is discharged. To facilitate the distribution of steam around the space 2da an annular groove or channel 29a is formed in the outer side of the inner shell at a point opposite the steam inlet 28a. The control valve 26b in the conduit 25C is shown as having its spring pressed stern operated by a lever 31a whichis connected by a link 52a to a foot lever 53B" pivoted to the pedestal 55 which forms a part of the supporting base 45a. With this form of the invention a porous'inatable bag or form 47a surrounds the steamer, and the sleeve or trouser leg is telescoped over the same as' is common in such finishing machines. The form mayhave as its rear end an air inlet portion (not shown) connected to a blower so that air may be forced into theforrn and through the garment to dry the same after the steaming operation. While Fig. 6 shows a steamer for a single sleeve or trouser leg, it is obvious that two of them may be arranged side by side and simultaneously operated so that both sleeves or both legs of a pair of trousers, pajamas or the. like may be finished at the same time. The inner shell 12a may be concentric with the outer shell as shown in Fig. 7 or the inner shell may rest upon the bottom of the outer shell as Shown in Fig. 8. In the latter eccentric arrangement of the two shells the diameters of the tubes or shells should be such that the wider space at the top of the device will not exceed %4 of an inch. The advantage of having the inner shell or body 12 or 12S in contact with a portion of the outer shell 1/ or 17B is that there is heat conduction from the inner to the outer shell, and hence more effective heat transference to increase the evaporation Iof Water particles in the steam in the outer chamber 20a in Fig. 6 or 20 in Fig. l.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the objects of the invention, and while preferences have been disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations Within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a steam-control structure for a garment finisher, the combination of a longitudinally elongated tubular body having ends connected by a continuous side wall and forming a normally closed inner steam chamber, inlet means for admitting steam under substantial pressure into said chamber adjacent one of its ends, a condensate drain outlet adjacent the other end of said chamber, means associated with said drain outlet to prevent the escape of steam and maintain the pressure of said steam inlet means in said chamber and keep said side Wall hot, and means for causing a thin lm of steam having a thickness of not more than 64" to pass over said hot side wall, said last mentioned means comprising an outer tubular shell telescopically arranged over said body and enclosing at least the major portion of said Wall, said shell being spaced not more than %4 from said wall to provide `an outer steam chamber of very small volumetric capacity, said outer chamber having outlet means for directing steam to a garment to be iinished, and valve-controlled conduit means for conducting steam from said inner chamber to said outer chamber, said steam conduit means having its steam discharge outlet spaced longitudinally a substantial distance from said steam outlet means for said outer chamber, whereby when the Valve in said valve-controlled conduit means is opened, steam under substantially the pressure in said inner chamber Will pass as a thin iilm along said hot side wall to cause any water particles in the steam to be vaporized before the steam is discharged to the garment being finished, said tubular body and said tubular shell being disposed in upright positions and said steam outlet means for the outer chamber being adjacent the top of said shell, an upright bathe plate extending transversely across the upper portion of said inner chamber and depending from the upper end of said body, said steam inlet means for the inner chamber opening into the latter on one side of said bae plate above the 'lower end thereof, and the inlet end of said valve-controlled conduit means opening into said inner chamber `on the other side of said bafe plate above the lower end thereof, whereby said body forms a steam separator.

2. In a steaming apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a longitudinally elongated tubular body having end walls connected by a continuous side wall and forming a normally closed inner steam chamber, a steam inlet for supplying steam under pressure to said chamber, a condensate drain outlet for said chamber, means associated with said drain to prevent the escape of steam and maintain the pressure of the steam inlet in said chamber and keep said side wall hot, an outer tubular shell telescopically arranged over said body in closely spaced relation thereto and substantially enclosing at least the major portion of said side wall, means uniting one end of said shell to said side wall to close one end of the space between them, means at the other end of said shell to close the other end of said space, said space forming an outer steam chamber of very small volumetric capacity, said shell having openings to discharge steam in jets from said outer chamber and conduit means to conduct steamY from said inner chamber to said outer chamber, said conduit means including a manually-actuated control valve means, the discharge' of steam from said conduit means being against the outer surface of said side wall of the body at a point spaced longitudinally arsubstantial distance from said steam discharge openings, and the spacing of saidV shell from the said side wall of the body ybeing such that when said valve means is opened steam under substantial pressure will pass as a thin film along said heated outer wall to cause `any water particles in the steam to be vaporized before the steam passes out of the outer chamber throughV said discharge openings, said tubular body bei-ng disposed in an upright position together with an upright bathe plate extending transversely across said inner chamber andV depending from the upper end Wall of said body, said steam supply inlet opening into the inner chamber above the bottom of said baie plate and the inlet of said steam conduit means being in communication with said inner chamber at a point above the bottom of said baliie plate, whereby Said body forms a steam separator.

3. In a steaming apparatus of the character set forti the combination of a longitudinally elongated tubular body having end walls connected by a continuous side wall and forming a normally closed inner steam chamber, a steam inlet for supplying steam under pressure to said chamber, a condensate drain outlet for said chamber, means associated with said drain outlet to prevent the escape of steam and maintain the pressure ofthe steam inlet in said chamber and keep said side wall hot, an outer tubular shell telescopically arranged over said body in closely spaced relation thereto and substantially enclosing at least the major portion of said side wall, means uniting one end of said shell to said side wall to close one end of the space between them, means at the other end of said shell to close the other end of said space, said space forming an outer steam chamber of very small volumetric capacity, said shell having open- .ings to discharge steam in jets from said outer chamber and conduit means to conduct steam from said inner chamber to said outer chamber, Said conduit means including a manually-actuated control valve means, the discharge of steam from said conduit means beingagainst the outer surface of said side wall of the body at a point spaced longitudinally a substantial distance from said steam discharge openings, and the spacing of said shell from the said side wall of the body being such that when said valve means is opened steam under substantial pressure will pass as a thin film along said heated outer wall to cause any water particles in the steam to be vaporized before the steam passes out of the outer chamber through said discharge openings, saidy tubular body being disposed in an upright position together with an upright baffle plate extending transversely across said inner chamber and depending from the upper end wall of said body, said steam supply inlet opening Ainto the inner chamber above the bottom of said baille plate and the inlet of said .steam conduit means. being in communication with said inner chamber at a point above the bottom of said baffle plate, whereby said body forms a steam separator, said continuous side wall of said body being a c-ylindrical pipe section, said telescoped shell being also a cylindrical pipe sectionand of slightly greater internal diameter than 'the external ldiameter of said shell section to produce the very small volumetric capacity of said outer chamber, said shell section having itsy upper end projecting above the closed upper endwall of said body, a perforated plate closing the projecting upper end of said shell section and spaced from said upper end wall, said perforated plate forming said closure means at said other end of the space which forms the outer chamber and also providing the said steam discharge openings, and a plurality of spaced spacing elements of uniform thickness between said bodyiand shell sections to insure their close concentric spacing.

4. In a'steaming apparatus for garment nishers, an outer upright shell including a section of a cylindrical metal pipe with an initially open lower end and a disk closing its upper end and perforated for the discharge of jets of steam, an upright tubular body forming van inner steam chamber and including `a section of a cylindrical metal pipe telescoped into the lower kend of the shell section and having its ends closed by upper and lower disks, means uniting the lower end of the shell section to the lower end portion of the body section, the last mentioned means forming a closure for the lower end of an outer steam chamber formed between the two pipe sections and between the upper closure disk of the body section and the perforated disk at the top of the shell section, and two pipe sections being so closely spaced as to make said outer chamber of such small volumetric capacity that the steam in it will move as a very thin film or layer, a plurality of spaced spacing elements of uniform thickness between the two pipe sections to insure their close concentric spacing, an upright bafe plate extending transversely across the top portion of said inner chamber and depending from the inner face of the upper closure disk of the body, a steam inlet for supplying steam under pressure in communication with the upper part of the inner chamber on one side of said batlie plate, a steam discharge for the inner chamber locatedadjacent its top and on the other side of said baffle plate, a condensate drain outlet for the inner chamber at the lower end of the body, means associated with said drain outlet to pre-V vent the escape of steam and maintain the pressure of the steam inlet in the inner chamber, a substantially U-shaped conduit for conducting steam from said inner chamber to said outer chamber, said conduit having its inlet end connected to said steam outlet of the inner chamber and having its outlet end in communication with the outer chamber at a point spaced longitudinally a substantial distance below said perforated disk to discharge steam against the outer face of said cylindrical body section, the latter having in its outer surface a circumferentially extending channel opposite the point of discharge of the steam to facilitate the distribution orf the steam around the body section, and a manually-operated control valve in saidv conduit, whereby when the valve is opened substantially dry steam will be discharged with considerable force in jets from the perforations in Said perforated disk.

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